This is a list of princes of

Wallachia Wallachia or Walachia (; ; : , : ) is a historical and geographical region of modern-day Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia was traditionally divided into two sections, Munteni ...

, from the first mention of a medieval polity situated between the

Southern Carpathians The Southern Carpathians (also known as the Transylvanian Alps; ; ) are a group of mountain ranges located in southern Romania. They cover the part of the Carpathian Mountains located between the Prahova River in the east and the Timiș and ...

and the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

until the union with

Moldavia Moldavia (, or ; in Romanian Cyrillic alphabet, Romanian Cyrillic: or ) is a historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester River. An initially in ...

in 1859, which led to the creation of

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Notes

Dynastic rule is hard to ascribe, given the loose traditional definition of the ruling family. On principle, princes were chosen from any family branch, including a previous ruler's bastard sons, being defined as ''os de domn'', "of

Voivode Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...

marrow", or as having ''heregie'', "

heredity Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic infor ...

" (from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''hereditas''); the institutions charged with the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

, dominated by the

boyars A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism, feudal nobility in many Eastern European states, including First Bulgarian Empire, Bulgaria, Kievan Rus' (and later Russian nobility, Russia), Boyars of Moldavia and Wallach ...

, had fluctuating degrees of influence. The system itself was challenged by

usurper A usurper is an illegitimate or controversial claimant to power, often but not always in a monarchy. In other words, one who takes the power of a country, city, or established region for oneself, without any formal or legal right to claim it a ...

s, and became obsolete with the Phanariote epoch, when rulers were appointed by the

Ottoman Sultans The sultans of the Ottoman Empire (), who were all members of the Ottoman dynasty (House of Osman), ruled over the Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental empire from its perceived inception in 1299 to Dissolution of the Ottoman Em ...

; between 1821 and 1878 (the date of Romania's independence), various systems combining election and appointment were put in practice. Wallachian rulers, like the Moldavian rulers, bore the titles of ''Voivode'' ("duke") or/and

Hospodar ''Gospodar'' or ''hospodar'', also ''gospodin'' as a diminutive, is a term of Slavic origin, meaning "lord" or " master". The compound (, , , sh-Latn-Cyrl, gospodar, господар, ) is a derivative of ''gospod'' / ''gospodin'', , or when spe ...

("lord, master"); when writing in

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

, the term Domn (from the

'' dominus'') was used. Most rulers did not use the form of the name they are cited with, and several used more than one form of their own name; in some cases, the ruler was only mentioned in foreign sources. The full names are either modern versions or ones based on mentions in various chronicles.

List

Early rulers

Bezerenbam and Mișelav Bezerenbam (or Bazaram-ban) and Mișelav were the Wallachian (Romanian) leadersXenopol, p. 552.Djuvara, cited article. (the former a " ban" according to Xenopol, Hasdeu and Constantin C. Giurescu) mentioned in 1241, in the Persian chronicle Jāmi� ...

Seneslau Seneslau, also Seneslav or Stănislau, was a Vlach ''voivode'' mentioned in the Diploma of the Joannites issued by king Béla IV of Hungary (1235–1270) on 2 July 1247. The diploma granted territories to the Knights Hospitaller in the Banate of ...

John (knez) John, also Joan or Ioan, was a '' cneaz'' (local chieftain or ruler) mentioned in the Diploma of the Joannites issued by King Béla IV of Hungary (1235–1270) on 2 July 1247; the diploma granted territories to the Knights Hospitaller in the Ba ...

Farcaș Farcaș, also Farkas, Farkaș or Farcas, was a '' cneaz'' (local chieftain or ruler) mentioned in the Diploma of the Joannites issued by king Béla IV of Hungary (1235–1270) on 2 July 1247; the diploma granted territories to the Knights Hospita ...

Litovoi Litovoi, also Litvoy, was a Vlach/ Romanian ''voivode'' in the 13th century whose territory comprised northern Oltenia in today's Romania. He is mentioned for the first time in the Diploma of the Joannites issued by king Béla IV of Hungary (123 ...

Bărbat Bărbat was the brother and successor of ''voivode'' Litovoi whose territory had comprised northern Oltenia (Romania). War with Hungary In 1277 (or between 1277 and 1280), Litovoi renounced fealty to king Ladislaus IV of Hungary (1272–1290) ...

Thocomerius Thocomerius, also Tihomir, was the father of Basarab, who would become the first independent ''voivode'' of Wallachia. Many Romanian historians, such as Vlad Georgescu and Marcel Popa, believe that Thocomerius was a ''voivode'' in Wallachia who ...

House of Basarab

From the early 15th-century the family was divided in two main branches: : :

House of
Basarab The House of Basarab (sometimes spelled as Bazarab, ) was a ruling family that established the Principality of Wallachia, giving the country its first line of Princes, one closely related with the Mușatin rulers of Moldavia. Its status as a ...
, with interventions of Bogdan-Muşat and
Movilești The House of Movileşti, also Movilă or Moghilă (, Cyrillic: Могила), was a family of boyars in the principality of Moldavia, which became related through marriage with the Mușatin family – the traditional House of Moldavian sovereig ...
dynasties

Pre-Phanariote period

The Ottoman influence in the Wallachian rulers' election grows from the mid-17th century onward. From 1659, the rulers elected are mostly scions of Greek families, and increasingly less linked to the original Wallachian ruling family. The process reached its peak with the called Phanariote period (1715-1859), where, between the rulers, there was already no connection (or a very distant one) with the dynasty of Basarab.

Various dynasties

Phanariotes (1715–1821)

Post-Phanariote period

Bibliography

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References

External links

{{Commons category, Princes of Wallachia
Rulers of Wallachia
Romania history-related lists

Lists of princes House of Dănești House of Drăculești Lists of Romanian monarchs